{"id":8100,"date":"2017-06-27T18:05:29","date_gmt":"2017-06-27T22:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jfowlerphotography.com\/?p=8100"},"modified":"2017-06-27T18:05:29","modified_gmt":"2017-06-27T22:05:29","slug":"my-first-visit-to-roan-highlands-near-roan-mountain-tennessee-2017-06-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jfowlerphotography.net\/?p=8100","title":{"rendered":"My first visit to Roan Highlands near Roan Mountain, Tennessee &#8212; 2017-06-24"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The next day after our adventure along the Blue Ridge Parkway, we headed west toward a place called the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Roan_Mountain_(Roan_Highlands)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Roan Highlands<\/a>. The USDA website states, &#8220;Roan Mountain is actually not one mountain, but a high ridge about 5 miles long. It ranges from a height of 6,286 feet at Roan High Knob to a low of 5,500 feet at Carver\u2019s Gap. No one knows the origin of the mountain\u2019s name. Some claim the name refers to the roan or reddish color of the mountain when rhododendrons bloom in June or when the mountain ash berries appear in September. Others say the name comes from Daniel Boone\u2019s roan horse, because he and his horse were frequent visitors.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Currently, Carvers Gap is a large parking area (probably not large enough for the mid-summer traffic), and is traversed by the Appalachian Trail. We arrived and parked in one of the few spots that was empty. I had made up my mind not to go home without seeing the three big attractions: <em>Rhododendron catawbaense<\/em> or <strong>Catawba Rhododendron<\/strong>; <em>Rhododendron calendulaceum<\/em> or <strong>Flame Azalea<\/strong>: and <em>Lilium grayii<\/em> or <strong>Gray&#8217;s Lily<\/strong>. Roan Highlands is especially noted for its large expanse of <strong>Catawba Rhododendron<\/strong>, which unfortunately for us, was in peak bloom the week before our visit. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jfowlerphotography.net\/?p=8100\/\"><img title=\"Carvers Gap\" src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4210\/35409089962_7080cb6d2c_z.jpg\" alt=\"Carvers Gap\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a> <strong>Carvers Gap<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>So, we gathered our camera gear and headed off to the trail head. Although the Carvers Gap sign reads &#8220;ELEVATION 5512 FT.&#8221;  (approx. 1680 meters), we still had a climb of around 500 feet (150 meters) to reach the top, where we were told we would find the <strong>Flame Azalea<\/strong> in bloom, and &#8220;maybe&#8221; some of the rare <strong>Gray&#8217;s Lilies<\/strong> in bloom. This unimproved path is actually part of the 2180+ mile (3500+ km) Appalachian Trail that runs from Georgia to Maine. The hike took us up a grassy meadow where there were a couple of remaining <strong>Catawba Rhododendron<\/strong> still in bloom. The large expanse of this species had already bloomed out and almost no flowers were showing. Seeing what little remained, just piqued my resolve to catch it in its full glory next year. Here is a taste of this lovely <strong>Rhododendron<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4233\/35189923300_4078d76778_c.jpg\" alt=\"Catawba Rhododendron\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4264\/34735964024_7b2f50d1d8_c.jpg\" alt=\"Catawba Rhododendron\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I can only imagine what we will see next year when the entire hillside is colored with these pink-purple flower clusters&#8230; <\/p>\n<p>About halfway to the summit, we entered a dense, Red Spruce-Fraser Fir community. We went from bright sunlight into very deep shade in just a matter of steps. Just as we entered, I spotted a flash of red in the tiny amount of sunlight that penetrated the branches of the conifers. This turned out to be the <em>Lilium grayii<\/em> or <strong>Gray&#8217;s Lily<\/strong> I had come to see. It is found in only a handful of counties composed of the highest ridges in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Here is what I saw:<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4206\/35189924200_fcee57bb3c_c.jpg\" alt=\" Gray's Lily\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4217\/34735965524_e3c41e21cb_c.jpg\" alt=\" Gray's Lily\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The blood-red outer portion of the sepals and petals gives no clue as to the darkly spotted and orangey-yellow interior. What a spectacular flower! I did use a bit of fill flash to emphasize the interior colors &#8212; otherwise, they would not be evident in a &#8220;normal&#8221; snapshot.<\/p>\n<p>Inspired by this find, we plodded up the trail until we reached the summit. We had been told to continue over the top of the ridge until we began the decent to the east. We did just that, and it was here that we began to see what remained of the <em>Rhododendron calendulaceum<\/em> or <strong>Flame Azalea<\/strong> display. <strong>Flame Azalea<\/strong> usually puts on its best show early on, before the plant is fully leafed-out. The leaves on the plants ahead of us had already put on its summer leaves, but many of the plants still held their vibrant flowers. The colors range from a pure, lemon yellow to a deep, scarlet-orange &#8212; and everything in between. Here are some of the <strong>Flame Azalea<\/strong> flowers we were able to photograph. Also note the spectacular Blue Ridge Mountain scenery that is its backdrop:<\/p>\n<p><u>Update 2017-06-29<\/u>:I have been told (by someone who really knows their stuff) that these gorgeous <strong>Azaleas<\/strong> are probably <em>Rhododendron cumberlandense<\/em> or <strong>Cumberland Azalea<\/strong>. They don&#8217;t bloom until their leaves are present, and they generally prefer full sun, whereas <em>Rhododendron calendulaceum<\/em> bloom before their leaves are present and prefer to be in the woods or just on the edge of the woods. I really appreciate my knowledgeable readers &#8212; you guys never let me down.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4280\/35577133905_2cba58a149_c.jpg\" alt=\"Flame Azalea on the mountain slope\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4207\/34735962814_69bb5afb98_c.jpg\" alt=\"Flame Azalea on the mountain slope\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4207\/34735961384_5efd025ee3_c.jpg\" alt=\"Flame Azalea on the mountain slope\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4289\/35189921870_8a69149b6b_c.jpg\" alt=\"Flame Azalea on the mountain slope\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4278\/34735962064_0a609c6728_c.jpg\" alt=\"Flame Azalea on the mountain slope\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4230\/35189920960_b250dee0c7_c.jpg\" alt=\"Flame Azalea on the mountain slope\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Here are a few more shots of the grassy bald with the high, Appalachian Mountain range in the distance:<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4232\/34735963534_6e2f8c11f0_c.jpg\" alt=\"View of the Southern Appalachian Mountains from the Roan Highlands\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4253\/35189922580_825162e13f_c.jpg\" alt=\"View of the Southern Appalachian Mountains from the Roan Highlands\" \/><\/p>\n<p>While I was photographing the <strong>Flame Azalea<\/strong>, I noticed a few more <strong>Gray&#8217;s Lily<\/strong> plants in full bloom:<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4253\/35409089472_1312a73260_c.jpg\" alt=\"Gray's Lily\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4218\/34735965064_398bfca9b0_c.jpg\" alt=\"Gray's Lily\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4277\/34735964414_c48b21c025_c.jpg\" alt=\"Gray's Lily\" \/><\/p>\n<p>For this last shot, I didn&#8217;t have to use fill flash, because it was backlit by the sun:<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4256\/35409089292_35ab9e1b1f_c.jpg\" alt=\"Gray's Lily\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Another scene was to the east as the Appalachian Trail headed north from Round Bald into Engine Gap towards Jane Bald, in the distance:<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4280\/35189920490_81f1136f89_c.jpg\" alt=\"View from Round Bald into Engine Gap, then toward Jane Bald\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It was getting to be late in the day, and the cold wind and clouds were fast approaching. So, we headed back to the truck at Carvers Gap. But, I had to take one last shot looking west at the silver lining in the clouds which was a fitting highlight our first trip to the Roan Highlands:<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/5\/4240\/34735960934_9443761626_b.jpg\" alt=\"Looking west from Round Bald\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8211;Jim    \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The next day after our adventure along the Blue Ridge Parkway, we headed west toward a place called the Roan Highlands. The USDA website states, &#8220;Roan Mountain is actually not one mountain, but a high ridge about 5 miles long. It ranges from a height of 6,286 feet at Roan High Knob to a low [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>My first visit to Roan Highlands near Roan Mountain, Tennessee - 2017-06-24 - Jim Fowler Photography<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jfowlerphotography.net\/?p=8100\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My first visit to Roan Highlands near Roan Mountain, Tennessee - 2017-06-24 - Jim Fowler Photography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The next day after our adventure along the Blue Ridge Parkway, we headed west toward a place called the Roan Highlands. 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